The Sun. — London, England, 1810-04-18 00:00:00

IVES'TMIiIBTER Al EE7IX G. Ccnformable to a Requisition to the High Bai liff, and announced by advertisements in the Public Prints, a very numerous meeting - yesterday took place in Palace yard, nearly opposite to the front of \VestinitisTer-Hall. The High Bailiff read the Requisition, which vat; signed by near-2000 Eleaors, and stated the objet for which the meeting had been summoned. Mr. STvacn Men came forward to move certain Resolutions. It was unnecessary for him .to dwell at much lengh upon the loss which the City of 'Westminster had experienced, in being deprived of a most able and faithful Representative. lais loss was deeply felt by them all, and no words that he could use could add any thing to the impression which was already on their minds. it became the daty of those who signed the Requisition for the present meeting, to examine attentively into all the circumstances attending the case, and connetied with the present meeting. It was their opinion at the first, that it would not have been prudent to call the meeting at an earlier period, as it could hardly be expelled that men's minds would have th-n been cool enough to enter into a calm and deliberate consideration of the subjed. It' was for that rea son that the Meeting had not been called sooner. I% , iany of those, however, who signed the ri.cp tion had found it their duty to win in their minds the Resolutions which appeared to them proper to suenait to the Meeting. These Resolutions he would feel it his duty to read to them. and.he felt convinced that they would meet with their decided approbation. Jt was not necessary for him to make many preliminary observations, for the casd upon which they were called together was perfeetly known and .understood by them all. The House of Commons had thought proper to confine, during, their pleasure, Sir Francis Burdett, their Represen- tative. He could safely say that a more honest or abler man never appeared as the Representative of "that city. His house had been broken open,.and he himself dragged to prison, there to. remain during the pleasure of the House. Would that Meeting believe that it was for any crime ? They could only conceive that it was for honestly doing his duty, and nothing more than was his duty. He had re sisted, as he conceived himself bound to do, what he tivrug,ht a most arbitrary and unwarrantable stretch of power. Their honoured Representative • certainly possessed a firmness of mind which, in the discharge of duty, was not to be shaken ; but still it would be right in them to skew him that he had every support which their entire approbation and warm afithion could give him. When the arm of power haul been stretched to such an unwarrantable and unprecedented length, it was necessary to inter pose whatever shield the Constitution allowed the People, to prated their rights in the person of their Representative. He trusted that the Resolutions he had to submit would be considered perteelly legal; constitutional, and honourable. He hoped and con fidently trusted, that the citizens would not by the slightest irregularity, afford a . handle to their bitter enemies. He trusted they would ever continue to press upon the Parliament the necessity of such a Parliamentary Reform as would give them the substance, and - not the shadow merely, of represen tation ; and that the time would come when the people would be fairly represented in the Commons (louse ; when no more money would be taken out of the pockets of the people than was absolutely necessary ; and when the money that was raised would be expended with economy. Considering the harmony which had usually prevailed at their meet ings, it was a most unnecessary parade of military s , tength, an useless insult offered so_the Electors of Westminster, for Government to pretend to sup pose thit the race of the country was likely to be violated, by their meeting, in the regular and con stitutional manner, to complain of grievances. This w,ts among the Uniiiher of insults which were daily offered to the pubic feelings ; and be was convinced that their pcacefolcondwl on the present day would Shew the folly of the pftpaiations of Government. After many other general observations, he conclud ed by mot in thy- following Resolotiuns : Resolved, That we roost highly • approve of Sir- Fritnecs Buidett's Letter to us, Lis Constituents; the subjeert t),O of the utmost imp , rtance, and the ar gurnentsmcol trovertible. Titat Sir Ff., ci, Burdrtt's conduct in calling up on the Civil Po , er for the protedion of his house against a miii•ary f ice, as dictated by prudence, rawledge of, and confidence in, the laws of his Country. rhal the House of Corrm.)ns be called upon to restore to us our beloved Representative, and to -co-op::rate immediately with him in his endeavours to procure a fair representation of the people in Par lia inen t. • That the Pc!ition now read be adopted; that it be signed by the High Bailiff qnd 25 Eleaors, and deliveted to our I etnainingßepresentative, the Right Flon. Lord Cochrane, to be by him presented to the 110 se of Coinmoni. That a L: tier be addressed • to Sir F. Burdett, ex pres,ing our 101 l and entire approbation of the whole and every part of his conduct tis a Member of Par t hauteur. That the Letter now mid be adopted; that it be signed by 23 Electors, in the name of this Meeting; and that the High &Irbil' be requested to present the same tt, sir F. Burdett. That the Thanks of this Meeting be given to our worthy Representative, the Right Hon. Lord Coch rant!, for hIS support of Sir F. Burdett during the -present aidnous struggle. Th , tt the Th, nks of this Meeting be given to those ii,depen.lcut Nletnhers of the House of Com m:us who hive supported the rights of the people. "I httt the Thanks of this Meeting be given to Ar thur Mon is, .E-q. High l3ailitY, fur his ready coat pli'mee With the recitu4t'.on of the Electors, and fur able ami impartial , vtictuct in , he Chair. Mr. Wis 4A K2' seconded the Resolutions.—lt shou:d re,e that if the House of Comnlous hnd iv!leges to maintain, the people had also rigt,ts, which it was their bounden duty to pre. :erve i;•vi i rte. - They should not allow their rights to be t,'l( - ) .t , •d or (nitwit.' o.• without the most per c,..tveti!!g; was convinced, t hat when all the prttvS in Pdriiiiinerit were t lking of rallying eGOverntrient, rite Electors at Westmiii nu. do better ha... rally round ti,el taith ful F.e?leseutative, Sir Fratvis Bufclett.. It they Tv were to examine -tie prm,c;.,lings of Path this occasion, they wt)old find that Sir F. 8ur70.1 • had been committed for writing a letter to thew (oi- • planatory of what he coneei‘ed to to a., onwartant able stretch of power on the part of the House of Commons. It was certain, however; that the House of Commons did not always assume as hioi a tone as they now did; and, in the beginning ut the last century, that great laWyer, Lord Cruet Jusoce Hv t, or,. red the Speaker to withdraw %,‘ ith his ni:ice, and told him, " that if lie staid five minutes looger„ he would•commit him, even if •he had the whole House of Coinotoris in his belly." The privileges of the House of Commons, which were now so Much • spoken of, "we're originally granted fur the . .pro;ection of the people against the Crown and it • was never dreamt Of in the early times of our Coo stitutioo that these privileges were ever to be turned against people. Nothing could be mole violent titan the conduct pursued to the Hon. Baronet. If a Member of Parliament was merely committed to the custody of the Set jean[ at Arms, and kept con fined in a room" at the House of Commons, ,such a circumstance would have created neither tumult nor murmur, In what was called a trial before the House of Commons, the same persons were the ac cusers, judges, and jury; and, however it might be st , t , d, he never could believe that it was merely for writing that letter to his Constituents that he had been seat to prison. No it must -be --recolleaed how strenuous an advocate he always was for re.fi • form—what a strong enemy to corruption ! Such a man as him the Ministers would naturally wish, to get rid of : and yet, in other con-tempts against the authority and character of the House, they were not so implacable. When two of his Majestlat ters had been accused of selling seats in that House, and the fad was offered to be proved at the gar, and was indeed- confessed by them, the majority of the House unblushingly declared, that the - practice should not be dealt with severely, but tiuttit might be almost justifird from the ft equency and notoriety of such practices. There were many who thought that it. would be necessary to petition his Majesty to dissolve a Parliament which had made such a violent attack upon the liberty of the subject. die was afraid, however, that there would be little. use in addressing his Majesty, so long as those Addresses might be intercepted by the very Ministers of whom the nation had to complain. He anxiously wished, however, that the time might return when his Ma- , jesty would again grant audiences to his subjects, and receive their Petitions in his Royal haott4. • kit Con cluded by exhorting the Eledors•to a peaceable de meanour, to deprive their enemies of the handle they so much wished for. A Vote of Thanks was then proposed and agreed to, to Lord Cochrane, for his support of the cause of Sir Francis Burdett. Lord -COCtir..tsc said, that, on the present occa sion, he telt more than he could find words to ex press. He felt, as others did,' that the iron hand of power had been stretched out against his worthy , Friend, one of their RepresentativCs to Parliament. If was not merely against their Representative, but against a Representative that enjoyed their entire confidence—a Man who dared to be honest in the very worst of nines. He hoped, however, that the people would never so far acqeiesce in this assump tion of power, as to allow it to be drawn into pre cedent for the future. He felt it necessary to ex plain a misrepresentation, which he was sure was altogether unintentional, of what he said ment on the business of Sir Fraecis Burdett. He had not applied the. word censurable' to any thing which Sir Francis had • done ; but he had ineteiy said, that such an expression as was complained of would' be ceesurable it applied to the Howe of Commons which was conscious of having dupe t s duty. But could it be supposed that he meant that a House. of Commons which had aceoittcd the Ministers who pianned the Walcheren Exp:dition, and who had approved of their cohduat, were really condueting themselves as became the dignity of the House He thought the House of Cuuty,uns ought .0 have the power or committing, teat rot to the elaeh tit had now been exercised. Those offences which were cognizable by the laws should, as is thought, be lett to the JAWS to determine. It was hard fur the House to determine justly, not only by reason of the party spirit which prevailed on both sides, but because the forh.s of the Mouse did taut ahow wit nesses to be examined on oath, or !he persons ac cused to be confronted with their accusers, nor to reply to the accusation made against them. Whatever might be the forms of the House of Common,, the immutable principles of justice were above'the re gulations of any body of men whatever. It was ne cessary to say a 'few words about the manner in which the warrant was executed. An useless pa tade of Military force was exhibited before the house of Sir Francis, for the purpose of intimida tion. His house was beset by armed men, whom the Sheriffs afierwards thought it their duty to re move. There was, however, one part of the tran sattion in which he approved much more 'of the conduCl of Ministers than he did of the principles professed by Opposition. Those who sought every opportunity fur attacking Ministers, found hodt with them for nut resorting to military tOrec sooner; DOW he felt some obligation to theta for having re,. spelled the laws for two whole days, and hesitated in breaking into the house, which by the law they were nut entitled to enter. Their worthyßepre sentative (Sir Francis Burdett) hat always made the most strenuous exertions to detect corruption, wherever it might conceal itself. That great mea sure, of which he had been the poct'erful advocate, a Parliamentary Reform, was in his opinion so ab solutely necessary, that lie tilt cunvinced, that if that was not sixedily obtained, and !Ike unnecessary expent es of the war retrenched, this country must fall, like other nations, before that power which. has now subjugated Europe. lie had mom heard that this country was perfectly safe from all attacks by the superiority of its paled force. He - would declare to God that he was not of that opinion. He was. well informed that we had not now in our dock-yards timber enough fur the common repairs of our navy. In Plymouth there was not a supply for more than six weeks;, and he understood there was istit sufficient to buil.] one-halt of a 74 gun ship. Now, when it was considered that we were cut off from all supplies tram tl a Continent of Eu rope, and that pur . supplies fr rn Canada and Nova Scotia depended On no firmer tenure than the pre carious wisdom of 'our councils, he thought that even our nayy was in an alarm,ing situation, from ti.e want of the ni,nns to rivtir cr build ships.— fie then stated, from the Papers presented to the Reuse, that the number of , British seamen em ployed in our trade to Europe was t 6,000, whereas the foreign seamen amounted to 29,100. The 1 , English ships employed in the trade amoranted' to 2000, while the foreign ships exceeded 4000. . After some farther observations, he concluded, by giving his opinion, that a Parliamentary Reform was absolutely necessary, and that if the People were but unanimous, teey must obtain it. Mr. WMSDLa then presented himself. He agreed in all that had fallen from the Noble Lord, lie . should maintain, both in the House and out of it, that. they had t,o right to commit any person - to pri son for a libel. In considering what it was that the House of Commons felt so indignant at in the letter of Sir Francis Burdett, one remarkable expression was, that the Speaker's warrant under which Gale Jones was committed was a thine b sui generis. Now, it would be curious to consider the progress of this warrant, or, as Sir Francis would call it, this thing, saigeneris, in his case. It Was first given -to the Serjeant at Arms to execute ; but when he came to the Baronet's house, he found there wes a door in his way. What was to be done when this was dis covered ? The Serjeant at Arms was puzzled be- 1 yond measure, and went back to the Speaker, to' know what was to be done. The Speaker looked at • the warrant, acknowledged it was • his hand- 1 writing, but he knew no better what was to be done 1 with it : he was as much puzzled as the Ser jeant. He believed the next step was to shew it to the Bow-street Magistrates. They also were puzzled. They had been used to execute warrants tor felony and other crimes specified in the law of the land; but what was to be done with the Speaker's warrant, they did not know. This un fortunate paper was then laid before a Cabinet Council, where the Lord Chancellor and many grave Lawyers attended, as well as the Wise Man of the East. They were all puzzled, and did not know what to say about it ;• when at last the Frst Lord of the Treasury (himself a Lawyer) sent it, in despair, to she Attorney-General, to endeavour to mend it ; and aetrange opinion indeed the Attorney-General had given. He was evidently as much puzzled as any of them. There Was, however, one Tribunal before which it might yet come, and which he hoped would not be so easily puzzled—he meant a British Jury. In the case of Gale Jones it was con tended, that the privileges of the House of Commons were of so high and mighty a nature, that thaodges of the land were not worthy to look at them ; but in the case of Sir F. Burdett, the privileges of the House of Commons are sent to Bow.street, to he examined. He then read a passage from a speech of the great Lord Lyttleton, where it was declared, " That any privileges which were against the laws of the land, were tyranny and oppression, - whoever might claim or exerci.e them." As he never was himself a party man, he was not learned in the his tory of parties ; but he thought it most strange that the party designated by the natne Of . inigs, lents, or outs, should have chosen this particu lar occasion to declare their determination of lying round the Government. They now lied round those men whom they had been for fto many years in the habit of calumniating and re viling ; and now, in a moment, the Expeditions to Copenhagen and Walcheren ' were completely forgotten. To what was this rnira.ulous coneete sloe oft ing ? They could not suppri-ss or. Conceal 111..•ir joy al getting rid of that honest a: - .d Able rrem, who was al .vays ready 'to expose the corruptions any of their parties, and to urge that foeic which Was most dreadful to the ear, of the corr-upt, the ne cessity of a Reform in Parliamen- T:tey now sup poSeii ihat they had nothing I -ft to tsouole them. Alt hough his enemies had suec , eded in dragging Sir Francis Burdett from bis house, am' throwing him into prison, they could not succeed in their hope of dragging him from tae atfeetioos and hearts of his Constituents. Although they had now for a tone lost the ablest advocate for their rights, yet it they would persetere and be unanimous, they would finally obtain a fair represenration, and triumph over their enemies and those o f Sir Francis Burden. He concluded by intreating them to abstain froin any irregularity, which would Siva { their enemies a bane • dlefor which they much wished. Mr. JENAINGi (being recognized on the. Hust ings) was loudly called on to speak. He began by declaring that he had not come with the slighest in- tention of addressing them. He thought, that after the peaceable manner in which the Elefters of Westminster had conduced themselves at the time they made choice of their worthy Representative (Sir F. Burdett), it was an unnecessary insult to make a display of military force, under the pretence of preventing tumults. He conceive-d that Sir F. Burdett had held forth no other doetrine in the letter for which he was committed, than that which he had held both in the Horse and out or it. He had steadily pursued the same principles which he had always processed, and which recommended him to their confidence. The Resolutions having been carried nrmnimous ly, the buliness was at an end, and the Meeting bloke up. COPY or THE LETTER iENT TO SIR FRANCIS BURDETT. " Stu—We nominated you to be our Represen tative, without your knowledge, and we dreakr you without your interference. We were confident that you would perform the duties of a Representa tive in Parliament with ability and fidelity. In every respeat you have not only fulfilled, but ex ceeded our expectations. We derive the utmost sa tisfattion from having pointed ont to the nation the way to be fairly represented. Had it been possible that our example could have been followed, and a proper representation of the people thereby pro duced, the scenes we have lately witnessed would not, have disgraced our country. We understood the nobleness of your mind, and were confident that you would not descend to barter your trust for a place under Government, nor he the partisan or leader of those who support or reject measures just as they happen to be proposed on this or on that .side of the House. We feel the indignity that has been offered to you; but we are not surprised to find, that, when evety excuse is made tor public delinquents, the utmost rigour is exercised against him wno pleads for the ancient. and constitutional rightS of the People. 'you nobly stept forward in Ot:fence of a felluw-sqbjed Unjustly imprisoned; and you questioned, with great ability and kno"' ledge of the laws, the warrant issued upon 0131 oc casion. The kior,se of Coma-ions have answerei yOtir argument, by breaking into your house with 3 military force, seizing your person,- and conveyinz you by a large body of troops to the Tower. Your distintion between privilege and power remains unaltered ; the privileges of the House of COllllllOll 5 are. for the protection, not for the destruct ion, of • the People. We have resolved to remonstrate with the House of Commons, on the outrages committed under their order, and to call upon them to restore you to your seat in Parliament, which the present state of the country renders more than ever neces sary, for the furtherance of your and our objet, a Reform in the Representation in that House. While so many Members are colleaed together by means " which it is not necessary for us to de scribe," we cannot but entertain the greatest appre hensions for the remainder of our liberties ; and the • employment of tt military force a;ainst one of their own body is but a sad presage of what may be cx• petaa by those who might, like you, have the courage to stand forward in defence of the rights of the people. When we reflect on your generous ex ert ons to destroy the horrors of secret and solitary confinement ; to mitigate the severity of punish' meat in the Army ; to prevent the cashiering of its Officers without cause assigned ;' to restore, for the comfort of the worn-out soldier, the. public property Conveyed by a job to a private individual ; to pre vent the extension of the Barrack system,' the ob vious-tffetit of which is to separate the soldier form the citizen ; to prevent the introdus6tion of foreign Troops ; to bring to light an atrocious att of tyranny, by which a British sailor was left to perish on a bar-. ren rock; and, above all, your unretnitted exer tions to obtain a full, fair, and free Representation of the People in Parliament; when we refiett on the firmness, the unshaken constancy, which you have , invariably shewn " in evil report and good report, we are eager to express the sentirr,ents of gratitude and attachment to you with which we are imprtss ,ed ; and we are convinced that those sentiments are not only felt by the inhabitants of this City, but by every person throughout the land who is not inte rested in the continu:mce.of public abuses." MAILS. Dot —4 Gottenburgb, t Lisbon, t Cadiz, z Waterford. PRICP OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT TIVaLvA o'CLOCIC. - -Consoi* S _ ; _t_CLIV QUTS DIC/RE FALEUM AUDICAT? L 0 AV .0 0 N . WRDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 1810. We this morning received Spanish Papers to the 31st ultimo. Their-contents are important and sa" tisfadory, At Cadiz, as we stated yesterday, no" thing of importance_ had taken place, but Ow 'Other parts of Spain are very favours" ble. The Spaniatils are mtist wisely pursuing did • specie.; of wartare which foist ultimately prove sac" cessful. No military sk,ll can enable the Frfeeh Army, ho. Ovvr . innneroUS, to resist the cugstatit and harassing attacks of the Spanish population. The effect of tins mode of warfare is already visible freel the mot ements of the French. They have be tied° the necessty of evacuating Malaga, and uth r er towns which they had occupied, because they co . Id not keep up their communications; they havo the:Cote endeavoured to concentrate their forces. From t" mode of warfare which the Spaniards have thus wisely adopted, we must not look for great and bril d liant victories. The French armies will not be defeated in the fell of battle, but they will be de' stroyed in detail, if toe Spaniards persevere in thei r system. The Thistle schooner, of 8 guns, captured on the sth of rebruary the Dutch ship Havie, of 10 VW and twelve men, with a valuable cargo, from Batavi a for New-York, and carritd uer into Bermuda, after an action of 16%r : hours and an half, in which the Havie had one math killed, and the Dutch Admir al BUYille .(a passenger), and seven men wounded! The Thistle had one man killed, and Lieutenaor PROCTOR and six men wounded. The Petition agreed to at the Meeting in Palace' yard yesterday was, in the course of the afternoon, presented to the House of Commons by Lora COCHRANE. Mr. CI.IIIW2N and Mr. WARD objec t° ed to the Petition being received, in conseque.nee vE the offensive and disrespectful terms in . which tt was couch td. Mr. PRIMEVAL agrcc4i tikut the terms were not fiery respectful, but at the same time he thought it not right to citti;ise too minutely the language of Pelitons, and therefore recortinieridc d tile reception of the Petition, which we's accoldina received and ordered to lie on the table. W r t-' are extremely glad that the House determined 1 ° receive this Petition, because we conceive the right of petitioning is one of the must important and sacred rights which Englishmen possess ; that right .certainly may be abused, men may convey an 1 0 ' suit, under the pretext of presenting a Petition, but the abUse of the right should not destroy the right itself. Ili discussing, a few days ago, the question respecting the privileges of the House of Comrnous , we adopted the same plinciple,—we admitt .d alt° possibilily that privilege might be abused, but WO totally differed from those who thought that because such a possibility existed, that therefore the privi lege shotild be abolished,